National Team Match:
Japan 2 - 0 Iraq

Date: 12 Feb, 2004 Location: Tokyo Natl Stadium Japan 3 1H 0 1 2H 0 Iraq Yanagisawa (47') Santos (84') Scoring Fujita Cautions Haider Kadim Razak Mossa Abdul-Wahab Hair Seigo Narazaki, Nobuhisa Yamada, Keisuke Tsuboi, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Alessandro Santos, Yasuhito Endo, Takuya Yamada (Takashi Fukunishi 15'), Toshiya Fujita (Shunsuke Nakamura 72') Mitsuo Ogasawara, Atsushi Yanagisawa (Yoshito Okubo 79'), Tatsuhiko Kubo Saad Jamir, Haider Jasim, Haider Khadim, Hasseem Kati, Abdul-Wahab Hair, Hawal Tahel, Salih Salih, Haitem Tahel, Razak Mossa, Ahmad Alwan, Mufti Adir

Japan managed to claim a win against a compative Iraqi team at National Stadium, on Thursday evening, but the match certainly didnt seem much like a victory. Though there were a few flashes of quality from one or two players, the majority of the individuals who took part in this contest should be hanging their heads in shame after one of the worst performances in recent memory. Indeed, for the first 45 ,minutes of this contest, Japan were thoroughly outplayed by the visitors, and probably deserved to go in at half time two goals down.

Indeed, if Zico were relying on performances in this contest, alone, to select players for the World Cup qualifiers, the only individuals who would make the cut are keeper Seigo Narazaki and possibly striker Atsushi Yanagisawa. Mitsuo Ogasawara and Alessandro Santos had borderline performances, while the rest of the team looked lazy, spoiled, disinterested and lacking in even the slightest bit of pride.

The match got off to a very rocky start when Takuya Yamada was taken down by a vicious tackle, and came up lame. Yet despite the fact that he was obviously hobbled, and incapable of continuing, it took the bench a full ten minutes to finally decide to replace him. In the mean time, Iraq had taken control of the momentum and attained a level of confidence in themselves that should never have been permitted. Certainly, Yamada's performance against Malaysia was so pathetic that it was probabluy for the best that he was knocked out early. But the failure to replace him immediately, as soon as the extent of his injury became apparent, is inexcusable.

By the time the team got back to full strength, they were on the back foot, disorganised, and seemingly even intimidated by the aggressive play of their opponents. for the remainder of the first half, Japan played like a bunch of spoiles sissies more interested in not getting their uniforms dirty than in producing goals. One thing is certain, the national team members are extremely fortunate that Phillippe Troussier is no longer their coach. If the flaming Frenchman was still at the helm, he would have dismissed the entire starting lineup from his national team roster at half time, sent them packing for home, and played the second half with only substitutes.

Japan came out in the second half with a bit more energy, and produced a goal within two minutes on a nice combination between Ogasawara, Santos and Yanagisawa. Oga played a lovely through ball that sent Santos completely into the clear, on the left wing, and his cross in front of net met Yanagisawa on a perfectly timed run, for a point-blank header. Japan deserved to double their lead just moments later, when Toshiya Fujita split the defence with a lead pass to Ogasawara, but the goal was called back for offsides (replays showed Ogasawara to be three full strides onside, but that was pretty typical of the pathetic officiating in this match).

Japan then slipped into another lull for about 20 minuees before a well-executed one-two pass between Santos and Kubo produced the secont goal, Santos poking the ball past the keeper from point-blank range. That was the way the match ended, and the final score line looked somewhat comfortable at 2-0.

But that certainly does not tell the full story of the match. The back four, in particular, played terribly, and the midfield (apart from Ogasawara) was hardly any better. Keisuke Tsuboi had probably his worst performance ever, giving away two atrocious passes deep in his own end which should surely have been goals if not for poor Iraqi finishing and some brilliant reaction saves by Narazaki (by far Japan's most valuable player in this contest). Tsuneyasu Miyamoto was little better, flubbing two or three opportunities of his own, and gfailing to provide any direction to his teammates. Nobuhisa Yamada was virtually invisible, and although Santos was involved in both goals, he also disappeared for long stretches of the match.

Meanwhile, as we noted in the match against Malaysia, both Fujita and Tatsuhiko Kubo have demonstrated beyond doubt that they have no business wearing the national team jersey. Fujita stumbled around, making occasional short exchanges with Ogasawara and the forwards but generally just dribbling aimlessly and losing the ball to opponents. Yasuhito Endo, after a strong performance against Malaysia, made no contribution whatsoever to the attack, and was beaten time after time on the defensive end. Takashi Fukunishi had a passable performance after replacing the injured Yamada, but certainly did nothing to impose himself on the match, or demonstrate his value as a potential NT reserve. Ogasawara and Yanagisawa had about the best performances of the lot, technically speaking, but neither one displayed even a hint of enthusiasm or determination, often giving up on plays rather than overexert themselves.

Based on what we have seen in the past two national team matches, it may be time for Zico to just kick the whole lot of these players out, and promote the Olympic team to full NT duty. Japan's NT squad disgraced themselves in this match, and have no excuse for such pathetic play. The most unfortunate thing about this contest was that Iraq failed to win. They certainly deserved the victory a lot more than Japan did, and a good spanking by a lesser opponent, followed by forty lashes and a raking over the hot coals by the media is just what this team needs, about now, to dispel the lackadaisical attitude they have displayed in their last two matches.

Below is the full roster for Japan's match against Iraq: